ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0740-8362
Current Organisation
University of Adelaide
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Publisher: MyJove Corporation
Date: 19-06-2014
DOI: 10.3791/51627
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.CYTOGFR.2014.07.010
Abstract: The roles of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 during both innate and adaptive Th2 mediated immunity have received considerable scrutiny, however, mechanisms by which these cytokines influence the cellular interactions involved in negatively modulating the development of effective Th1 immunity are poorly characterized. In this article we discuss the recent advances in IL-4/IL-13 biology, mainly (i) role of these cytokines in allergic inflammation, atopic dermatitis, cancer, transplant rejection, bacterial/viral infections, and specifically the therapeutic potential of IL-13Rα2, (ii) insights into how "alarmin" stimulation activate IL-4/IL-13 at the lung mucosae, (iii) how these two cytokines modulate antigen-specific CD8(+) T cell quality/avidity in a vaccine route dependent manner and (iv) finally discuss the potential of using transient inhibition of IL-4 and/or IL-13 at the vaccination site as a platform vaccine technology to induce strong sustained high quality CD8(+) T cell immunity for protection against many chronic mucosal pathogens such as HIV-1.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.JIM.2012.10.013
Abstract: CD4(+) T cells play a central role in regulating the immune response. Their effector function is commonly assessed by their capacity to secrete cytokines detected by ELISPOT and intracellular cytokine staining. However, one aspect of their effector function that is often overlooked is their ability to help activation of cognate B cells directly, a process that is initiated through the engagement of their T cell-receptor (TCR) with cognate peptide presented on major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) molecules by B cells. Here we report a method to monitor CD4(+) T cell-mediated B cell help in vivo using a multiplex high throughput assay. This assay utilizes a fluorescent target array (FTA), which is composed of lymphocytes labeled with numerous (>200) unique fluorescence signatures that can be delineated in a single recipient animal based on combination labeling with the three vital dyes carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), CellTrace Violet (CTV) and Cell Proliferation Dye eFluor 670 (CPD). By pulsing different B cell populations in a FTA with titrated amounts of cognate MHC-II binding peptides, CD4(+) T cell help could be assessed by measuring induction of the B cell activation markers CD69 and CD44 by antibody labeling and flow cytometry. We call this the "FTA T helper assay", and have found it to be a robust and sensitive assay to measure CD4(+) T cell helper activity across a multitude of peptide-pulsed B "target" cells in real time in vivo. Furthermore, the technique can be used simultaneously with the FTA killing assay that measures cytotoxic T cell function, to provide a comprehensive tool for measuring both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell activity during an immune response in vivo.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.VIRUSRES.2015.04.002
Abstract: Herein we describe the construction of recombinant human rhinoviruses (rHRVs) encoding HIV Gag or Tat by inserting the full length tat gene or regions of the gag gene flanked by sequences encoding the HRV 2A protease cleavage site into the junction between HRV genes encoding structural (P1) and non-structural (P2) proteins. Most recombinants were unstable, but this was corrected by mutation of the flanking cleavage sites. Thereafter, all rHRV constructs retained the inserts throughout six passages. Such constructs may find utility as vaccine vectors to generate mucosal immunity.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-11-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP36658
Abstract: Mucosal immunity is deemed crucial to control sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Herein we report the efficacy of a mucosal HIV vaccine strategy comprising intranasal (IN) vaccination with a cocktail of live recombinant human rhinoviruses (HRVs) encoding overlapping fragments of HIV Gag and full length Tat (rHRV-Gag/Tat) followed by intradermal (ID) vaccination with DNA vaccines encoding HIV Gag and Tat (pVAX-Gag-Tat). This heterologous prime-boost strategy will be referred to hereafter as rHRV-DNA. As a control, IN vaccination with wild type (wt)-HRV-A1 followed by a single ID dose of pVAX (wt-HRV-A1 VAX vaccination) was included. rHRV-DNA vaccination elicited superior multi-functional CD8 + T cell responses in lymphocytes harvested from mesenteric lymph nodes and spleens, and higher titres of Tat-specific antibodies in blood and vaginal lavages, and reduced the viral load more effectively after challenge with EcoHIV, a murine HIV challenge model, in peritoneal macrophages, splenocytes and blood compared compared with wt-HRV-A1 VAX vaccination or administration of 3 ID doses of pVAX-Gag-Tat (3X pVAX-Gag-Tat vaccination). These data provide the first evidence that a rHRV-DNA vaccination regimen can induce HIV-specific immune responses in the gut, vaginal mucosa and systemically, and supports further testing of this regimen in the development of an effective mucosally-targeted HIV-1 vaccine.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-06-2013
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00803-15
Abstract: There are 3 to 4 million new hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections annually around the world, but no vaccine is available. Robust T-cell mediated responses are necessary for effective clearance of the virus, and DNA vaccines result in a cell-mediated bias. Adjuvants are often required for effective vaccination, but during natural lytic viral infections damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are released, which act as natural adjuvants. Hence, a vaccine that induces cell necrosis and releases DAMPs will result in cell-mediated immunity (CMI), similar to that resulting from natural lytic viral infection. We have generated a DNA vaccine with the ability to elicit strong CMI against the HCV nonstructural (NS) proteins (3, 4A, 4B, and 5B) by encoding a cytolytic protein, perforin (PRF), and the antigens on a single plasmid. We examined the efficacy of the vaccines in C57BL/6 mice, as determined by gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay, cell proliferation studies, and intracellular cytokine production. Initially, we showed that encoding the NS4A protein in a vaccine which encoded only NS3 reduced the immunogenicity of NS3, whereas including PRF increased NS3 immunogenicity. In contrast, the inclusion of NS4A increased the immunogenicity of the NS3, NS4B, andNS5B proteins, when encoded in a DNA vaccine that also encoded PRF. Finally, vaccines that also encoded PRF elicited similar levels of CMI against each protein after vaccination with DNA encoding NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5B compared to mice vaccinated with DNA encoding only NS3 or NS4B/5B. Thus, we have developed a promising “multiantigen” vaccine that elicits robust CMI. IMPORTANCE Since their development, vaccines have reduced the global burden of disease. One strategy for vaccine development is to use commercially viable DNA technology, which has the potential to generate robust immune responses. Hepatitis C virus causes chronic liver infection and is a leading cause of liver cancer. To date, no vaccine is currently available, and treatment is costly and often results in side effects, limiting the number of patients who are treated. Despite recent advances in treatment, prevention remains the key to efficient control and elimination of this virus. Here, we describe a novel DNA vaccine against hepatitis C virus that is capable of inducing robust cell-mediated immune responses in mice and is a promising vaccine candidate for humans.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.VACCINE.2013.07.062
Abstract: We have shown that mucosal HIV-1 recombinant pox viral vaccination can induce high, avidity HIV-specific CD8(+) T cells with reduced interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 expression compared to, systemic vaccine delivery. In the current study how these cytokines act to regulate anti-viral CD8(+) T, cell avidity following HIV-1 recombinant pox viral prime-boost vaccination was investigated. Out of a panel of T cell avidity markers tested, only CD8 expression levels were found to be enhanced on, KdGag197-205 (HIV)-specific CD8(+) T cells obtained from IL-13(-/-), IL-4(-/-) and signal transducer and, activator of transcription of 6 (STAT6)(-/-) mice compared to wild-type (WT) controls following, vaccination. Elevated CD8 expression levels in this instance also correlated with polyfunctionality, (interferon (IFN)-γ, tumour necorsis factor (TNF)-α and IL-2 production) and the avidity of HIVspecific CD8(+) T cells. Furthermore, mucosal vaccination and vaccination with the novel adjuvanted IL-13 inhibitor (i.e. IL-13Rα2) vaccines significantly enhanced CD8 expression levels on HIV-specific CD8(+), T cells, which correlated with avidity. Using anti-CD8 antibodies that blocked CD8 availability on CD8(+), T cells, it was established that CD8 played an important role in increasing HIV-specific CD8(+) T cell avidity and polyfunctionality in IL-4(-/-), IL-13(-/-) and STAT6(-/-) mice compared to WT controls, following vaccination. Collectively, our data demonstrate that IL-4 and IL-13 d en CD8 expression levels on anti-viral CD8(+) T cells, which can down-regulate anti-viral CD8(+) T cell avidity and, polyfunctionality following HIV-1 recombinant pox viral vaccination. These findings can be exploited to, design more efficacious vaccines not only against HIV-1, but many chronic infections where high, avidity CD8(+) T cells help protection.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-08-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-06-2012
DOI: 10.1002/CYTO.A.22084
Abstract: Here we describe a multiplex, fluorescence-based, in vivo cytotoxic T-cell assay using the three vital dyes carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester, cell trace violet, and cell proliferation dye efluor 670. When used to label cells in combination, these dyes can discriminate >200 different target cell populations in the one animal due to each target population having a unique fluorescence signature based on fluorescence intensity and the different emission wavelengths of the dyes. This allows the simultaneous measurement of the in vivo killing of target cells pulsed with numerous peptides at different concentrations and the inclusion of many replicates. This fluorescent target array killing assay can be used to measure the fine antigen specificity and avidity of polyclonal cytotoxic T-cell responses in vivo, immunological parameters that were previously impossible to monitor.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2016
DOI: 10.1038/GT.2015.86
Abstract: Currently, no vaccine is available against hepatitis C virus (HCV), and although DNA vaccines have considerable potential, this has not been realised. Previously, the efficacy of DNA vaccines for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HCV was shown to be enhanced by including the gene for a cytolytic protein, viz. perforin. In this study, we examined the mechanism of cell death by this bicistronic DNA vaccine, which encoded the HCV non-structural protein 3 (NS3) under the control of the CMV promoter and perforin is controlled by the SV40 promoter. Compared with a canonical DNA vaccine and a bicistronic DNA vaccine encoding NS3 and the proapoptotic gene NSP4, the perforin-containing vaccine elicited enhanced cell-mediated immune responses against the NS3 protein in vaccinated mice and pigs, as determined by ELISpot and intracellular cytokine staining, whereas a mouse challenge model suggested that the immunity was CD8(+) T-cell-dependent. The results of the study showed that the inclusion of perforin in the DNA vaccine altered the fate of NS3-positive cells from apoptosis to necrosis, and this resulted in more robust immune responses in mice and pigs, the latter of which represents an accepted large animal model in which to test vaccine efficacy.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-08-2010
Abstract: Type-I IFN (IFN-I) are highly pleiotropic cytokines known to modulate immune responses and play an early central role in mediating antiviral defenses. We have shown that IFN-I mediate transient up-regulation of a distinct subset of lymphocyte surface activation markers on both B and T cells in vivo independent of cognate antigen: a state referred to as 'partial lymphocyte activation'. Here we investigated in vitro the possibility that partial lymphocyte activation may serve to lower the antigen-specific activation thresholds for T cells. We found that the kinetics of Ca(2+) flux in T cells responding to TCR cross-linking was not enhanced in partially activated T cells. Furthermore, following TCR stimulation with anti-cluster of differentiation (CD) 3 epsilon, a lower proportion of partially activated than naive T cells proliferated. In contrast, the proliferation of partially activated and naive ovalbumin peptide (OVAp, SIINFEKL) specific CD8(+) T cells (OT-I CD8(+) T cells) was similar when stimulated with OVAp. Surprisingly, using an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay for IFN-gamma secretion, we found that a higher number of partially activated OT-I CD8(+) T cells expressed effector functions than did naive OT-I CD8(+) T cells. This is most readily explained by an increased survival of activated antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells from a pool of partially activated T cells than naive T cells. Overall, when examining the effects of early (Ca(2+) flux), intermediate (proliferation) or late events (IFN-gamma secretion) of T-cell activation, we found that partial activation promotes the survival but does not alter the antigen-specific activation thresholds of CD8(+) T cells.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-08063-1
Abstract: The use of cost-effective vaccines capable of inducing robust CD8 + T cell immunity will contribute significantly towards the elimination of persistent viral infections and cancers worldwide. We have previously reported that a cytolytic DNA vaccine encoding an immunogen and a truncated mouse perforin (PRF) protein significantly augments anti-viral T cell (including CD8 + T cell) immunity. Thus, the current study investigated whether this vaccine enhances activation of dendritic cells (DCs) resulting in greater priming of CD8 + T cell immunity. In vitro data showed that transfection of HEK293T cells with the cytolytic DNA resulted in the release of lactate dehydrogenase, indicative of necrotic/lytic cell death. In vitro exposure of this lytic cell debris to purified DCs from naïve C57BL/6 mice resulted in maturation of DCs as determined by up-regulation of CD80/CD86. Using activation roliferation of adoptively transferred OT-I CD8 + T cells to measure antigen presentation by DCs in vivo , it was determined that cytolytic DNA immunisation resulted in a time-dependent increase in the proliferation of OT-I CD8 + T cells compared to canonical DNA immunisation. Overall, the data suggest that the cytolytic DNA vaccine increases the activity of DCs which has important implications for the design of DNA vaccines to improve their translational prospects.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2016
DOI: 10.1038/CTI.2016.55
Publisher: Springer New York
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6869-5_11
Abstract: Expression vectors that are based on live human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are attractive, yet often overlooked in vaccine development due to their limited capacity for foreign gene inserts and poor genetic stability. This chapter describes a novel methodology to engineer a replication-competent genetically stable recombinant HRV (rHRV) without affecting viral replication capability. We have previously used these methods to generate live, genetically stable recombinant HRVs encoding HIV Gag and Tat proteins (rHRV-Gag-Tat), a potential mucosally targeted HIV vaccine.
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Date: 05-2014
Abstract: In most preclinical disease models, survival analyses are the gold standard for measuring the efficacy of medical interventions such as therapeutics or vaccines. In these analyses, treatment regimens that promote the survival and/or reduce the morbidity of experimental subjects (e.g., mice) are tested for efficacy. Although these analyses appear to be relatively straightforward, there are associated caveats regarding interpretation of the results that we wish to discuss in this editorial. Of particular concern is overinterpretation of the biological significance of survival data based on statistical significance rather than durability of protection.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 25-10-2017
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 31-01-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-10-2011
DOI: 10.1038/ICB.2010.118
Abstract: Numerous human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 vaccines have been developed over the last three decades, but to date an effective HIV-1 vaccine that can be used for prophylactic or therapeutic purposes in humans has not been identified. The failures and limited successes of HIV-1 vaccines have highlighted the gaps in our knowledge with regard to fundamental immunity against HIV-1 and have provided insights for vaccine strategies that may be implemented for designing more effective HIV-1 vaccines in the future. Recent studies have shown that robust mucosal immunity, high avidity and polyfunctional T cells, and broadly neutralizing antibodies are important factors governing the induction of protective immunity against HIV-1. Furthermore, optimization of vaccine delivery methods for DNA or live viral vector-based vaccines, elucidating the immune responses of in iduals who remain resistant to HIV-1 infections and also understanding the core immune responses mediating protection against simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) and HIV-1 in animal models following vaccination, are key aspects to be regarded for designing more effective HIV-1 vaccines in the future.
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Date: 15-04-2018
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02133-17
Abstract: A universal hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine should elicit multiantigenic, multigenotypic responses, which are more likely to protect against challenge with the range of genotypes and subtypes circulating in the community. A vaccine cocktail and vaccines encoding consensus HCV sequences are attractive approaches to achieve this goal. Consequently, in a series of mouse vaccination studies, we compared the immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine encoding a consensus HCV nonstructural 5B (NS5B) protein to that of a cocktail of DNA plasmids encoding the genotype 1b (Gt1b) and Gt3a NS5B proteins. To complement this study, we assessed responses to a multiantigenic cocktail regimen by comparing a DNA vaccine cocktail encoding Gt1b and Gt3a NS3, NS4, and NS5B proteins to a single-genotype NS3/4/5B DNA vaccine. To thoroughly evaluate in vivo cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and T helper (Th) cell responses against Gt1b and Gt3a HCV peptide-pulsed target cells, we exploited a novel fluorescent-target array (FTA). FTA and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) analyses collectively indicated that the cocktail regimens elicited higher responses to Gt1b and Gt3a NS5B proteins than those with the consensus vaccine, while the multiantigenic DNA cocktail significantly increased the responses to NS3 and NS5B compared to those elicited by the single-genotype vaccines. Thus, a DNA cocktail vaccination regimen is more effective than a consensus vaccine or a monovalent vaccine at increasing the breadth of multigenotypic T cell responses, which has implications for the development of vaccines for communities where multiple HCV genotypes circulate. IMPORTANCE Despite the development of highly effective direct-acting antivirals (DAA), infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV) continue, particularly in countries where the supply of DAA is limited. Furthermore, patients who eliminate the virus as a result of DAA therapy can still be reinfected. Thus, a vaccine for HCV is urgently required, but the heterogeneity of HCV strains makes the development of a universal vaccine difficult. To address this, we developed a novel cytolytic DNA vaccine which elicits robust cell-mediated immunity (CMI) to the nonstructural (NS) proteins in vaccinated animals. We compared the immune responses against genotypes 1 and 3 that were elicited by a consensus DNA vaccine or a DNA vaccine cocktail and showed that the cocktail induced higher levels of CMI to the NS proteins of both genotypes. This study suggests that a universal HCV vaccine can most readily be achieved by use of a DNA vaccine cocktail.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP29131
Abstract: DNA vaccines are cost-effective to manufacture on a global scale and Tat-based DNA vaccines have yielded protective outcomes in preclinical and clinical models of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), highlighting the potential of such vaccines. However, Tat-based DNA vaccines have been poorly immunogenic and despite the administration of multiple doses and/or the addition of adjuvants, these vaccines are not in general use. In this study, we improved Tat immunogenicity by fusing it with the oligomerisation domain of a chimeric C4-binding protein (C4b-p), termed IMX313, resulting in Tat heptamerisation and linked Tat to the leader sequence of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) to ensure that the bulk of heptamerised Tat is secreted. Mice vaccinated with secreted Tat fused to IMX313 (pVAX-sTat-IMX313) developed higher titres of Tat-specific serum IgG, mucosal sIgA and cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses and showed superior control of EcoHIV infection, a surrogate murine HIV challenge model, compared with animals vaccinated with other test vaccines. Given the crucial contribution of Tat to HIV-1 pathogenesis and the precedent of Tat-based DNA vaccines in conferring some level of protection in animal models, we believe that the virologic control demonstrated with this novel multimerised Tat vaccine highlights the promise of this vaccine candidate for humans.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 29-08-2014
Publisher: Springer Vienna
Date: 06-08-2014
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 05-12-2017
Publisher: InTech
Date: 19-03-2014
DOI: 10.5772/58344
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.VACCINE.2016.09.062
Abstract: DNA vaccines are ideal candidates for global vaccination purposes because they are inexpensive and easy to manufacture on a large scale such that even people living in low-income countries can benefit from vaccination. However, the potential of DNA vaccines has not been realized owing mainly to the poor cellular uptake of DNA in vivo resulting in the poor immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. In this review, we discuss the benefits and shortcomings of several promising and innovative non-biological methods of DNA delivery that can be used to increase cellular delivery and efficacy of DNA vaccines.
No related grants have been discovered for Danushka Wijesundara.